Monday, October 28, 2013

How Far Are You Willing To Go?

"Will Anyone Rob God? Yet you are robbing me! But you say : "How are we robbing you?"" (Malachi 4:8)

It's been over 40 years since comedian George Carlin did his famous bit "The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television."  It almost seems a quaint idea today, doesn't it? Words one can't say on TV.  There seems to be no boundaries on what they can show or do, all in name of entertainment. As network vies with Cable for viewers, everyone, it seems, is "pushing the envelope" of taste.

Not that there aren't some boundaries left. While one can say [insert any of Carlin's words here] with impunity, you still can't say "Jesus" unless you are trying to be funny or swearing. A&E recently asked the stars of "Duck Dynasty" to tone down the use of  "Jesus" in their language.

All of which got  me to thinking if there are words we don't say, or don't like to hear, in church. Obviously we are good with using the words "Jesus," "Lord," "God," and "Holy Spirit." But there is one word that still has shock value in church. It sets people on edge, and just the utterance of it can cause the congregation's faces to close during a sermon. "Stewardship."

See, I lost some of you already. We just don't like to hear the church talk about money. Why? Well, we know why.  Its because people love their money too much. But I'm not so sure about that. Oh, there is no doubt some of us wrestle with the love of money and the power it holds over our lives. And this can be true whether we are millionaires or  broke.  Loving money is democratic. It can grab any of us.

But that's not the only reason we don't like to hear the word stewardship. There are, no doubt, scandals with the Body of Christ, especially with televangelists and others, that have caused the world to be a bit cynical when the church asks for money. It's hard to do it in a way that doesn't feel mercenary. We don't always do it well -- and often come off like a 'religious PBS' during pledge week. I wonder what the reaction would be if we gave the choir a bank of phones to answer for pledges for our annual campaign?

And, for many of us, it just doesn't seem, I don't know, spiritual enough. We all know it takes a great deal of money to run a church and its ministries. But where does faith come in? Don't we believe God can attend to our needs? Do I have to be strong-armed or made to feel guilty every week? I'm supposed to feel better when I go to church, aren't I? (We'll better answer that question in a future blog, by the way). Didn't Jesus cleanse the temple of the money changers? Stewardship just doesn't seem very, for lack of a better word, "Jesusy."

But if we look at what is really happening in Malachi, and indeed in most of Jesus comments, stewardship is one of the most "Jesusy" parts of our discipleship.  Because stewardship really isn't about money. It's really about "How much of myself do I give to God to use as he wishes? How much of my life is Jesus Lord over?" Stewardship has more to do with Lordship than our pocketbooks.

If we look at our finances, real stewardship is not about giving a tithe. Let's take the idea of a tithe out of it for a moment. Let's stop worrying about percentages. Real stewardship is simply saying, "Jesus, You are Lord of every cent I have. How I make it and how I spend it. So  do with all of it what You will." And then we simply listen to the Holy Spirit and be obedient to that. 

I heard a young man the other day say, "We look at poverty in the world and ask how can God allow such things to happen. How can God allow them to be so poor?  But what we should be asking ourselves is: God, how can you allow me  to be so affluent? What am I supposed to be doing?"  For this young man, stewardship isn't a bad word. It's become a lifestyle, the lifeblood of his discipleship.

If he's right, isn't that a question we should be asking in every area of our lives? God, you've blessed me with a spouse. What am I supposed to be doing with that relationship? I don't want to give you 10 percent for my marriage, (i.e. church and maybe a night-time devotion). I want to give you all of my marriage. God, you've blessed me with singleness. I want to give you all of it, not just 10 percent.  God, I don't want to just thank you for having a job today, or even ask to sense your presence. I want you to have my job. Do with it what you will. All of it.

Stewardship isn't about money. It's about life. Real life. Abundant Life. Maybe if we stopped talking about it, and lived it out more, we'd understand. Maybe if we took stewardship out of our wallets and put it back in our hearts, stewardship wouldn't be such an ugly word. Maybe.

In Christ,
Rev. Dr. Brian Jones <><
 

1 comment:

  1. Excellent essay, Dr. Jones! May we reprint this on United Methodist Insight this week? Please reply to one.scribe56@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete